PEERtrainer's Tip of The Day Blog Provides Diet and Fitness Tips For Our Community Members. This is a conversation with our community.

Diet Advice

December 19, 2008

This is an article from the PEERtrainer Weight Loss Framework, which is a guide to some of the best ideas that we have found that address the fundamentals of long term weight loss. The Framework is a page that you can bookmark and it is especially useful for people starting out on a diet or weight loss path.

1. The Goal

We talk a lot in this guide, in our Tip of The Day email program, in our coaching calls the importance of goal setting and planning. It is so fundamental and you have heard this a zillion times, but it is precisely these things that you need to do to succeed. Like on a trip, you need to know where you are going, where your destination is.

Losing weight is no different. Setting a specific goal that is really yours is important. Not what anyone tells you, but what you really want at the core, what is in your heart. I think it was Thoreau who said that "people do not attain what they do not aim for." So no matter what stage you are on in your journey, take a moment and actually take out a pen or pencil and right down a goal you really want. Or better yet, one that you expect to attain.

2. The Why

Using another real life example, to do anything you need a reason to do it. Without a reason you are not going to do it. You are not going to follow through on a diet just because you think you are supposed to, or it is January 1 or whatever. You have to find a reason and is has to be a priority. It has to be something you deeply value and is the top priority. This reason, this burning desire, will help to fuel your motivation. When you get off track, which you will, this goal and this reason becomes this force that you gravitate towards, and that picks you back up.

3. The How

You also need to know how to get where you want to go, and you need a route, a map or some sort of itinerary. You need to know how get from point A to point B. You can do this on your own, but it is so much easier when you do it with others. Imagine going out in the wilderness without a map? Going to a party, you need the same mindset- you need to be prepared beforehand, you need a ruleset that you will stick to. You need to be able to cope with the "food wilderness."

This brings us to support and guidance which is one of our core organizing themes and ideas. Why do millions of people pay each week to travel to a room to weigh themselves and hear a pep talk? Because it works and is valuable. One thing we talk about at PEERtrainer is the idea of "diet fusion", of blending different approaches together. My own "diet fusion" is to use the Weight Watchers Points system and combine it with a very high nutrient diet like the one advocated by Joel Fuhrman. I think on week three of the bootcamp calls I go into this specific idea.

Once you have done the fundamental work of goal setting, expectation setting, finding your reasons you really need to figure out how to stick to it, to get the support to keep you on track. You can join a PEERtrainer group, make sure you are getting the daily emails, or join a coaching program that will help to customize your path for you. There are all sorts of things you can set up for yourself to help bolster your own self motivation and discipline. If you have heard the PEERtrainer bootcamp calls, you know how motivating they can be.

4. The Measurement

Develop a weekly plan to stay accountable. Do you hate the scale? That's fine. Maybe one day you will make friends with it. In the meantime, find a different way to chart your progress. Maybe buy a measuring tape and take your measurements weekly. Maybe you have a pair of jeans that you can try on weekly. Find something that works for you, whether it's an old pair of jeans that you try on once a week, a measuring tape, a scale, your partners eyes, whatever it is and measure your progress.

5. The Follow Through

It's important for you to see progress so that you'll have a reason to stick with your plan. You're not sprinting; you're running a marathon. If you don't see the miles tick off as you get closer to the finish line, how are you going to know that what you're doing is working? Logging your goals, your progress, and your daily habits will show you what is working and most importantly, give you the confidence to keep up your good work. Your first week on PEERtrainer is critical if you have never logged before. Once you develop the habit, other positive and healthy habits will start to happen.

Maybe you sense your husband doesn't make it easy on you to workout. You could be right. Your husband might like you bigger because a) if you get thin, you might leave him and/or b) maybe he doesn’t want to deal with his own health and weight issues. Guys, does this sound like you?

Your friends might secretly like when you’re heavier because they have always gotten the attention from being the thin one. Do they always seem to insist on dessert even when you've said no three times??

Guys, are your girlfriends/wives secretly trying to make it hard for you to workout or further your career? Maybe it's because they fear you'll lust after someone else or leave them alone all the time. Are you one of those women?

This agenda may not be coming from malicious intent; your coterie may not even know they're doing it. These subtleties could be coping mechanisms.

I'm not suggesting that you get rid of the relationships in your life. I'm suggesting that you learn to set boundaries. Maybe you limit the time you’re spending with a saboteur, or perhaps you can pick different activities. Instead of meeting your friends for dinner, why not make plans to go roller blading or an art event?

It may be tougher to "limit the time" with your significant other but you can change the activities you do together. If you sense your significant other is subtly challenging your new habits, talk about it or better yet, include them.

Instead of dinner plans, why not go hit a bucket of balls at the driving range? Be aware of the subtle things that are happening and suggestions that will take you down the wrong track.

You need to get through the rocky transition period. Often times, when you start setting an example for a while, people around you start to follow you in your healthy habits.

We didn't get a chance to cover this in depth in the weight loss boot camp but we'll be going into this - in depth - in the coaching program to give you strategies in getting through the "rocky transition", how to set boundaries and that "no" is a complete sentence, because it's not easy.

December 16, 2008

This is another key component to the basics of long term weight loss, how one gets and sustains the motivation to lose weight. Joshua Wayne continues his series of clips on some of these very basic and elemental things. Just so you know, I work to add a very practical layer to his clinical layer and we find the two very effective. These blogs, videos are all part of the free PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day weight loss coaching program.

This is a clip from personal coach Joshua Wayne talking about a very important thing to think about when you start a diet. Joshua also guides new PEERtrainer users and new Tip Of The Day subscribers through a free, four week "Weight Loss Bootcamp." They are a series of half hour calls that get sent to you each week to listen when you want. To sign up click here.

December 15, 2008

When I first started taking losing weight seriously, I actually thought I was dieting. I was passing up on cheesecake but not losing weight. And if you are not losing weight, you need more information.

Weight Watchers is excellent for portion control. When I learned the points system, what I saw I was eating about twice what I needed to lose weight. Helps to reset my mind of what a portion really is. Once you learn the points system, you just know it. Becomes something very natural. They have also just released an important update on their program called the Weight Watchers Momentum Program and I highly recommend you take a look at what we have written and learned so far.

You can also apply it to other diets like Fat Smash, The Zone, South Beach or Eat for Health.

December 14, 2008

This is another video I put together to show you the kinds of staples I like to keep in my freezer and fridge. I have multiple objectives here.

1. Foods that fill me up and help me lose weight

2. Things that I can give the kids easily and quickly that are also good for them

3. Foods that are nutrient dense and help my family get as many micronutrients as they can.

I only featured five foods- another staple of our fridge is Bolthouse Farms Vedge Juice. It tastes great, is packed with micronutrients and phytochemicals and makes it really easy for members of my family to consume high doses of nutrients, quickly.

December 13, 2008

We were just in a Whole Foods with the kids, and we met a woman who was giving out samples of a new line of almond butter and peanut butter called Justin's Nut Butter. It is a new company started by someone named Justin. As it turned out, his mom was the woman giving out the samples. Nice mom!

There are a lot of makers of various nut butters, and we buy the Whole Foods brand cashew butter regularly. It tastes great and it is cheap. But what struck us about Justin's Nut Butter is that they make 100 calorie squeeze packs that are flavored with things like organic maple sugar and organic honey. So they taste really good, and it is sometimes hard to get peanut butter to taste good without a ton of jelly.

The Maple Almond Butter was particularly good. (Almond butter is relatively high in calcium, so for people who are allergic to dairy and are looking for added sources of calcium, Almonds and almond butter are something to always keep in mind.)

I always tell people to always have healthy snacks handy, to prepare ahead of time for emergencies. These little packs seem like a great idea to keep in your desk or purse or glove compartment. If you can get your hands on an apple or a banana, squeeze one of these packs on the apple or banana and you have a great healthy snack. It will give you energy, you know exactly what the portion is, you get the benefit of an organic product, you get a piece of fruit in.

I think Justin's mom mentioned that each pack was about .59 cents. Add that to the cost of a banana or an apple and you have a pretty cheap snack as well. People always want to know how to eat healthy for cheap and eat organic for cheap. If you know where to look you can always find things that fit this requirement.

Getting a portion controlled product that tastes great and is super healthy can be one of those nice small wins I always talk about. So next time you are in Whole Foods or near one, get some of Justin's squeeze packs and add them to your emergency food stash. It is also a way to support a small business owner and kudos to the people at Whole Foods who brought Justin and his products in.

I also broke out my copy of Joel Fuhrman's Eat For Health to look up what he thinks about nut products. He pointed out that you don't want to overeat them, but that there are studies that show an inverse relationship between nut consumption and body weight, and that nuts and seeds help suppress the appetite.

Making sure to add an apple or a banana to the mix in the snack makes it taste great. Fruit in the morning for energy and then fruit with a little nut butter in the afternoon to help keep you full and energized is a great strategy. The squeeze packs themselves are 2 Weight Watchers points even with the added oil and fruit is minimal points impact. So this could be one of those things that you incorporate on a regular basis.

I'll keep an eye out for things like this, and if you see something, let me know in the comments section or email me if you are getting the Tip Of The Day newsletter

We continually are looking for ideas that work and also are looking to communicate those ideas. This post features an experiment with the You Tube video format. This clip was shot for the Tip Of The Day free coaching series. I'd love to know what you think of the clip, the format, because we want to present these in the way that you like.

Do you like the informality- do you want it more formal? Does it resonate? Is it too long or too short? What other clips would you like to see. Feel free to email me if you get the Tip Of The Day Newsletter, or you can comment on the You Tube clip itself or on this blog post. As you know, we tend to respond to most of our email quickly. The feedback and interaction helps us all.

The idea or "Tip Of The Day" is that whether you are getting started or restarted on your diet, you might want to think about finding the one thing that is getting you off track, and just focus on that one thing. There are two other key ideas presented, that we think will really help you start your diet or get back on track:

December 11, 2008

Someone asked me this question since we have been advocating the Points system as part of our Diet Fusion approach.

Here is the thread, and I will post the responses. While it is great to get our daily tips via email, it also helps to walk in and have to get weighed each week.

"You can learn a lot:- How to estimate portions when you can't measure
- How to plan for specially occasions
- How to choose more healthy options
- How not to deprive yourself, but instead control yourself
- Great recipes
- Tips for cooking lighter
- Strategies for changing your behaviors to be more healthy

"I learned a lot with WW but ultimately it taught me the importance of portion control. It was my downfall when I was heavy - now I've learned to eat everything I like, in moderation of course!!"

Books can be tedious, especially diet and health books. I'm more of a fan of doing than reading. I've learned a lot more about myself just through general logging of my food and thoughts than most books but that said, I don't know everything, right!?

I have a general set of guides to refer back to and learn from when I get down or I need ideas. More importantly, if I'm in a plateau or have been off track and could use the reminders, I have them on hand without much effort. This set changes depending on my life stage so you'll see it morph over time but here is my current set and the amazon/affiliate link:

Eight Weeks to Optimal Health:
Dr. Andrew Weil This was my first "bible" into the world of health and fitness. I still refer back to it often and I get inspired by his weekly tasks of buying flowers and experiencing forgiveness

Eat To Live/Eat For Health: Dr. Joel Fuhrman: His "prescription" of intense greens changed my husband's health. They have this really neat MANDI scoring guide, a quick guide to help you understand foods and their nutrient content at a glance. The link goes to a special PEERtrainer discount.

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom:
Dr. Christiane NorthrupI read this years before she went on Oprah and I experienced my early 30's in a much different way than many of my friends just based on her writings. Highly recommend this specific book

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People
Stephen R. Covey This book dives into discipline which I believe is the cornerstone of health and fitness. I'm not especially passionate about his writing style but the content is a must read.

Health Magazine:This health and diet lifestyle mags is the one that I most relate to - it isn't about how to get the body to get a guy or nicely posed pictures of fitness routines. The editorial perspective is a bit more focused on health and diet information

December 10, 2008

I was reading an article on food allergies in the New York Times just now and came across a great article on Cabbage that serves as nice summary of why it is good for you. They are doing an excellent job covering nutrition overall btw.

"The family of vegetables that cabbage belongs to is called the Cruciferae family or the Brassica family and related vegetables include kale, broccoli, collards and Brussels sprouts. Johnny Bowden, a nutritionist, calls cabbage “the most important [vegetable] in the world from the point of view of nutritional benefits and cancer-fighting ability.”

Cabbage possesses phytochemicals including sulforaphane, which studies suggest protects the body against cancer-causing free radicals, and indoles, which help metabolize estrogens. It’s also an excellent source of vitamins K and C, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, folate, manganese and Omega 3 fatty acids. "

Basically every vegetable you read about has different health promoting properties, different weight loss promoting properties.

We just had a long time PEERtrainer member email us about some comments in a thread in the community. We all need to work to keep them clean, so if you see something, say something. We keep the forums anonymous because people sometimes express some painful or embarrassing things. And we want people to feel like they can express themselves in a positive way.

Interestingly, the thread in question had to do with wondering if one can lose 100 pounds in a year in a healthy way. This is a very interesting question and discussion among people who were on the path to lose 100 pounds. So we had to clean it up a little. But it brought up a very interesting question, something that we are thinking about here internally.

When we started PEERtrainer, we came to this with a "diet neutral" philosophy, meaning we just wanted to provide a place for people to follow through on what they already knew, and were already working on. Over time we started to see different things working, some things not working.

So we started to develop some observations, maybe some opinions. We started to write some articles, basically sharing what we saw working. The Fat Smash Diet was one of these things, we saw people talk about it, form groups and teams about it. We started to see people eat lots of fruits and vegetables, much more than was commonly recommended by the run of the mill nutritionists out there. So we wrote about it and started to feature it on the PEERtrainer site.

And it was helping people lose weight, we were seeing this. We were then introduced to Dr Joel Fuhrman by a business colleague and friend of ours. This person had helped start Oxford Health Plans, and had a real passion for health. And passion in a real way that got our attention. He had served as Chairman of the company during some hard times (ended up engineering a $6 billion deal with United Health Care).

In this role he had a birdseye view of how screwed up our whole health care system is, with a total focus on acute care, and a major lack of focus on prevention. Anyway, he gave us a copy of Eat To Live, and introduced us to Joel. And what we found was a person with a record of excellence in helping people lose major amounts of weight, safely.

If you get a copy of Eat To Live or his newer book, Eat For Health (click here to read our take on it) you will see comments from his friend, Dr Mehmet Oz. So you can see that Joel has made some very good friends over the years of his work.

Which brings me back to the original question. And I think the answer to the question to losing 100 pounds is of course a complex one, but that it involves going on a diet that radically increases vegetables, fruits, raw foods, blended foods. And it involves exploring the ideas that Ian Smith, Joel Fuhrman are putting forth. The greens, veggies etc have to go to 80%. There is also this great clip on YouTube that I will dig up (or somebody please post) of a guy who went on a raw food diet and did a timelapse of himself.

So be open to these new ideas and approaches. And this is also permanent weight loss. When you change your diet- over time- to do mainly plant based foods, you are going to lose weight. There will be no more of this starving yourself and eating 100 calorie snack pack kind of deals. In fact, a sure way to know that you are going to gain the weight back is if you are eating 100 calorie snack packs each day.

Now if you are just beginning the journey, these snack packs are a great way to get portion control under your belt and transition. But over time they have to go, along with all the other fake foods. What our business friend taught us was that people might be thin but they are not healthy eating these foods.

We tend to shy away from the "health" aspect of weight, because who wants to be lectured. But know that diets advocated by people like Joel also help people massively improve their health profile.

December 08, 2008

One thing we like to do on PEERtrainer is focus on different needs. Needing to lose ten pounds for a woman needs a different approach than a guy needing to lose 45 pounds. What I want to do with this article is focus on some steps people can take if they need to lose 100 pounds or more. Here are some ideas and site resources in no order. My only advice is tackle one at a time.

1. You might want to start thinking about what you gain by being at your weight. This might sound odd, and have published an article on this entitled "What Is Beneath The Weight?"

2. Do a little digging and see how "ready" you are to commit to the weight loss process. PEERtrainer has developed a quick "Coaching Quiz" that will help you understand what your odds are of losing weight based on your current mindset.

If you want to take some baby steps and have some ideas pushed to you as you get ready, please feel free to join our PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day coaching newsletter. If you go to the page you can learn a little more about this free program.

3. Talk to your doctor and learn what diets and diet approaches doctors recommend. It also helps to learn what approaches are not recommended and why. But developing a relationship with your doctor, or finding a very compassionate one is an excellent start. If you had a bad experience with doctors, don't be turned off. There are many many doctors out there who care deeply.

4. Know that weight loss is possible. Do not get talked into thinking that bypass surgery is the only route for you if you have not made the progress that you want. Fruits and vegetables are very powerful, especially greens. They can be magic.

5. Weight Watchers is a great program to learn portion control. No matter what, you need to master the Weight Watchers points system so that you learn to how to make good decisions each day. They also give you three free online assessments which allow you quickly assess if you are ready to lose weight and what some of the specific health risks are.

6. PEERtrainer offers a free "Weightloss Bootcamp"- it is a series of 4 free calls that go over some proven approaches.

7. Really think about the impact the people around you on a daily basis have, and work over time to build a broad support network. Know that people you never expected are there to help you with an array of services- some free, some paid. But there are fundamental approaches that work, and will change how you think about everything.

Common Questions:

-Can I Lose 100 Pounds In 100 Days?

People write about this, and the Biggest Loser mentality has made extreme weight loss fashionable. But those people are under intense medical supervision. You can absolutely lose 100 pounds, but it is going to take a consistent effort and a real focus on the negative influences of those around you.

-What If I Really Don't Want To Lose Weight?

This is very common and one of the things Joshua Wayne talks about in the weight loss bootcamp is the idea of "secondary gain" where you get a benefit of a certain behavior. There are all sorts of situations where fat is actually the solution for people, rather than the problem. This is mental of course, which is why a psychotherapy approach to weight loss is needed along with an MD and a solid diet like Eat For Health or Weight Watchers. This is the focus of the PEERtrainer Coaching/Training Intensive.

What If I Really Like To Eat?

There is really nothing wrong with enjoying food. And you would be surprised how MUCH you can eat of certain foods. This blog post discusses recipes to help you lose weight. They really work!

I get some great questions and great feedback in my "Tip of The Day" newsletter, and some of the emails that I respond to end up being tips themselves! In this post, I was asked by a 44 year old, physically active man, what nutrition advice I had. This is very general advice, and what I did was just try to give him one thing to focus on, one big idea. In this Tip Of The Day series we focus a lot on that, and we have some opinions on the subject.

We tend to really be open minded, but the #1 thing to communicate on the nutrition front is that you have to focus on greens each day- spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts. And you have to eat this stuff in quantity. Most guys (the ones I know) have no problem drinking a ton of beer, eating a huge steak- so they should also have no problem eating a ton of greens.

This can also be easy and cheap. For example- go to the grocery store, buy a one pound bag of frozen spinach. $1.75 approx. Buy 4. Throw them in the freezer. At dinner time fire up a frying pan, sautee them in 5 minutes. Flavor it- maybe with some garlic sauteed in a couple spoonfuls of olive oil. Make it easy, but just do it.

What if you are out at a restaurant? Lets take a real world example- you go to PF Changs at the local mall or some other restaurant. The first thing you do is order a Large side of spinach. It is $5. $3 for the small. Add a side of brown rice and you basically have a meal.
Another way to get the greens in is to always order a salad and get in the habit of buying salad bags.

The idea is you start to focus on making this a habit of yours. Black beans are also a great source of protein- they are cheap and easy to make. Get in the habit of buying them in cans- usually less than buck even for the organic ones at Whole Foods.
If you do physical work, you probably get what I call "insane man hunger", and maybe after a tough day you grab some beers, some taco bell, Wendy's etc. Go easy on it, but know even here you have options to Always order a salad, and make sure you get your daily greens in.

Nutrition overall is complex and there is much that the experts don't know. But one idea that is rock solid is the idea of "nutrient density" which loosely translated means a PILE of fruits and veggies each day. Study after study shows how fruits and vegetables are very good for you.
Again, not to be patronizing, but if you are a guy you know how to go overboard on stuff. Make that work for you.

Go overboard on the fruits and veggies and salads. The health implications are also huge. As you begin to consume massive amounts of greens, you health will likely improve, your energy will likely improve, even your mood perhaps!"

For other guys reading this and who have the same questions, approaches we see working include The Fat Smash Diet, Eat To Live and Skinny Bitch. Basically every new diet approach out there focuses on fruits and vegetables heavily. But the real question is not what to do, it is how!!

December 06, 2008

When you're trying so hard to lose weight it's easy to focus on all the things you've done wrong over the week. You should have passed on that slice of pizza. You should have gotten up to go for a run but instead you sat and watched TV. If only you didn't have tiramisu after dinner you would have seen more results on the scale. While your mind tends to fixate and ruminate on the "mistakes" you made during the week, it's important to actively think about what you did right this week. Because I know there are choices that you made that were right, that have helped you get closer to your goals.

Take a moment to think about something you did well this week. Maybe it's related to a food choice, or maybe it's workout related. Perhaps you actually made it to the gym or maybe you got to the gym but you ran for 10 more minutes than you usually did. Maybe it's not food or workout related at all. Maybe you were extraordinary at a project this week, or maybe you listened during an argument even when all you wanted to do was shout why the other person was wrong and you were right. Whatever it is, I'd like you to acknowledge your accomplishments this week. Write them down. I suspect you've spent a lot of your week focused on what you didn't do. Give yourself a break and have fun thinking about all the things you did do, and did well.

December 05, 2008

I eat out frequently so over the years I've had to figure out how to resist high calorie/low nutrient foods when I can't control the environment. It's took me a while to figure it out but I had to do it; otherwise the scale would never show results. So I created a segment: The 5 Golden Rules: How To Eat At A Restaurant And Still Lose Weight and it was a hit. I stick to these rules every time except for Sushi and Indian Food dinners (and I've made up my own little rule set for that which I'll post separately).

The 5 Golden Rules: How To Eat Out, At A Restaurant And Still Lose Weight

1. Say No To The Welcome Food. No bread basket, No Chips, No Exceptions. Do not let it hit the table no matter how hungry you are.

2. Learn to See Water As A Drink Choice. If you don't like it, try some squeezed lemon. Sodas, sweetened teas and juice all add sugar and calories.

3. Order An Appetizer As Your Entree. Appetizers help you keep control over your portions. If you're craving pasta or something in particular, find the appetizer size.

4. If You Want To Order An Entree, Always Make It A Salad. Make sure the dressing is on the side and your spoon to drizzle. You must stop at 2 spoonfuls. Say No to the croutons, crunchy things.

5. Use the 3 Bite Rule For Dessert. It's better to pass on Dessert or have tea or frozen berries but if you must, only take 3 bites.

November 24, 2008

The title of this post should read, "How to Make Vegetables You Don't Like Taste Extraordinary without Butter and Cheese but that was too long. Butter and Cheese make everything taste extraordinary. The real challenge is how to make green beans taste good without it.

I was with a friend of mine the other day and she mentioned that her two boys ate an entire plate of green beans. I can't even eat an entire plate of green beans, no matter how good they are for you. I don't like the taste.

Then, as I was eating dinner with her family, I watched exactly what she did: She placed a bowl of soy sauce next to the plate for one son and a small bowl of freshly squeezed lemon for the other. Brilliant.

She chose the condiment that they loved the most and her boys, with their new "finger" food, started dipping away. I had never thought of it. I've always dipped fresh broccoli in mustard; it tastes like you're eating hot dogs. It does! Try it and let me know if you agree. The trouble with mustard is that my daughter still likes it, but when my 5 year old decided that he didn't like mustard, there went my vegetable strategy.

My friend Laurie helped me rediscover all the ways that you can make food you don't love, taste like food you can love. Since I'm no different than my children, this was a great realization for me - what other condiments do I like so I can eat green beans and like them? I thought I'd list a few here to give us all some ideas:

- Low sodium soy sauce with wasabi: I happen to love this stuff in my sushi, but I haven't tried it on it's own. If you're allergic to wheat, stay away. My friend's 7 year old loves it.

- Ketchup: They have organic ketchup now, heinz makes it without the corn syrup. Warning - it doesn't taste as good but if you're children don't know the difference yet, it might be perfect.

- Mustard - my favorite standby: There are so many varieties now that you can most likely find one you like. I love the standard Dijon but honey mustard might be a great dip.

- Chutney: my friend used to be addicted to this stuff. It is an acquired taste.

- Salsa - You can get some great tomatoes and just great taste in general. There are also some mild kinds without all the onions and peppers for the children.

- Fresh squeezed lemon and wasabi: my husband has a wheat allergy so he invented this. It tastes amazing and really "fresh".

- Mashed up avocado with lemon: takes a little more preparation but kids usually love avocado and you're getting a huge extra dose of vitamin C. If you have an extra 5 minutes, it's totally worth it.

- Lemon/mustard/garlic dressing: again, takes a little extra time so this isn't necessarily the best standby but you might want to try it when you're having a big sit down dinner.

- Strawberry with soy milk: mix it up in the blender and make sure you use frozen strawberries. It becomes a strawberry sauce and it's excellent with fruit.

March 1, 2011 Update: We probably need to drop the low sodium soy sauce suggestion here, or change it to a wheat free option. Since I wrote this I have discovered that many people will benefit from a serious reduction in wheat in their diets. In fact, all gluten products are on the right side of the new PEERtrainer Cheat System. If you have not yet downloaded your free copy, you can still do so here.

November 21, 2008

A few weeks ago, I stopped at Starbucks and saw an advertisement for their new Signature Hot Chocolate. The ads were so inviting and so nicely designed that I felt compelled to just try it. It was cold outside, I was on the low end of my "weight range" and I thought, oh, what could it hurt and it will taste soooo good. Well I was definitely right about part of my thesis - it tasted sooooo good. Beyond soooo good. It is a truly extraordinary invention.

That one choice, that one minute when I made the decision to just try it that day, turned into 3 days in a row. I got so into them that by the next week, on my way to a playdate with my son's friends, I mentioned that I would be a few minutes late, I had to stop for a Signature Hot Chocolate. One of the other moms replied with "Hey, are those good? I'll have one too." About 4 days later, one mom pulled me aside and said, "Jackie, I can't get into my jeans. I am up to 3 salted caramel signature hot chocolates a day. And while I'm telling you this, I think I'm going out to get another one." The next day, a few other mothers were also talking about the new habit I had introduced and how good those hot chocolates are. They started comparing the hazelnut to the salted caramel and I was jokingly called a hot chocolate pusher. ME!! I couldn't believe it. One little choice, less than a minute choice, led to a 3 week hot chocolate habit and had also led many other people down that same road.

Then I thought this: I only get one a day, but I wonder what's in those things? It was one of the first times that I can remember that I didn't bother to think about what might be in it before I bought it, I just wanted it. I had guessed that it was about 150 calories and 3 weight watchers points but then when I actually took a moment and thought about it, I realized they probably made it with whole milk to make it taste that good and added whatever makes it "signature" and uh oh, it's got to be more than 150 calories. When I asked, I found out that it was a pre-made mix with non-fat milk and a grande was 380 calories and 7 weight watchers points! I have since see 470 calories in other places which would be 9 ww points but I'm thinking that is with the whipped cream. I got my info directly from the starbucks employee. I was dumbfounded. And pretty upset. How could I have not even asked?? After the shock, I was completely over it. Maybe not for good, but as a daily habit. The knowledge about what it was, what was in it and how many calories it had was enough for me. I haven't ordered one since (it's been about a week now).

The learning here? The moment I discovered what was actually in it, it became effortless to give up. Look at the labels and if there aren't labels or nutrition facts, just ask. That little petite scone might be just as satisfying as the grande hot chocolate was and it would have been 280 calories less. A decision that took 10 seconds to make can snowball into an extra 2800 calories a week, and not just for one week, but for three weeks! Mine did. This time of year is crucial - with the holidays and parties and family get -togethers, the mine fields are everywhere. Next time a 10 second decision presents itself, just think, do I potentially want an extra 3000 calories this week?

November 16, 2008

I was asked this question by a guy who emailed me yesterday. He thanked me for turning him on to Weight Watchers and wanted some more advice. I told him that there would be more tips coming each day and try and stay patient.

But I also wrote him this: (I try to get back to as many people as I can)

"WW points is a great building block, and you will learn more each day. Eat For Health is another core building block we advocate.

Too often people fall into this diet trap where they do only ONE thing. They are on WW, on South Beach, this or that. They think that if they are one thing it is to the exclusion of other approaches.

The reality is that there are great things to learn all over the place. Weight Watchers teaches you portion control, and the system brilliantly incentivizes you to consume fiber rich foods. Which are plants!

Eat For Health by Joel Fuhrman is something we relentlessly advocate. It is not just another diet book. It is literally a manual, a textbook for how to eat. It is something to keep as a reference manual, no matter what approach you take.

It is not an all or nothing approach, it is simply a page by page education on what to eat, what not to eat and why you should or should not eat something.

A lot of the other building blocks are mental. A lot of this is repetition and reinforcement. Hence the daily emails.

A lot of it is very personal, and we try to help you find your "one thing."

The idea here is to keep learning new things, staying focused each day. It is the opposite of high pressure "Biggest Loser" type of things. Gradual, step by step, there is no failure. Just continual daily progress towards all sorts of great things."

November 14, 2008

One of the most commonly asked questions that we get asked from Tip Of The Day subscribers is about hunger.

It doesn't matter whether you've been restricting yourself on a diet, or not even watching what you eat at all, there are times that you suddenly feel so hungry you don't even know how it hit you.

Often you find yourself in a situation where you didn't eat a proper breakfast, or you went too late until lunch came around and the hunger hits you like a ton of bricks. You feel like you could eat a house and if someone put a large pizza in front of you at that exact moment, you could probably scarf down 3/4 of it, maybe almost the whole thing.

What's interesting is that Dr. Fuhrman, in his book Eat for Health, says that actual hunger is felt in your throat. Symptoms include salivating and light interest. Actual "hunger" is when your body is ready for more nutrients.

Often that "starving" feeling are withdrawal symptoms from the caffeine, sugar or other "nutrient-poor" foods you consume. These feeling that we confuse for "real hunger" are usually felt in the stomach as growling, light headedness, little dizzy, the general sensations we feel when we say we are hungry.

But at the time when you're "starving", the logic behind what's really going on doesn't matter. You just want food and you want it now.

When you get to this point, how do you satiate yourself without destroying all of your efforts towards your weight loss for the week?

Here are a few tips:

1. Keep one of your favorite snacks in your purse or in your desk at alltimes.

That doesn't mean healthy if you don't like the taste. If you throw an apple in your purse but you don't particularly love apples, when that overwhelm comes on, you will not eat that apple. You will think you arestarving and way too "hungry" for that apple to even begin to have an effect. You'll head to your nearest "favorite food" place that will satisfy the hunger.

Pick a snack that you really love the taste of: maybe it's a fruit/nut power bar - maybe a banana or maybe something else. Pick a snack that works for you, that you really like, and next time the starving feelingcomes on you'll have something right there, and once you've eaten it, the binge feeling has come and gone.

2. Check if that hunger feeling really means you're thirsty

Most of the time when you feel hungry, you are dehydrated. Get a large glass of water full of ice with Fresh squeezed lemon and see how you feel afterwards.

3. If you didn't put your favorite snack in your purse?

Instead of using the starving excuse as a chance to stop at Starbucks for a large muffin, croissant and moccachino, go find your favorite snack immediately!! Think of what you would have put in your desk or purse and simply go purchase that to eat now.

4. What if you give in anyway?

Lastly, if you are starving and you do head to the nearest pizza place and scarf down 4 times as much as you usually do, don't make it the end of the world. Don't use that incident as the reason for saying, well, I messed up, might as well have pasta and that hot fudge sundae I've been craving as well.

Don't stack it with all the other things you were disappointed with in yourself that day. You were "starving", you ate a lot, and that's all it is. Commit to making just the next meal, just one meal one that follows your regimen and makes you have energy and feel great and don't look back.